Jindal performs well nationally but won't meet the press in Louisiana

On the NBC News show “Meet The Press”, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal called out President Obama and told him to “Stop campaigning”.

“My recommendation to the President it’s time to stop campaigning. It is time to actually do the job here in Washington, D.C.”, Governor Jindal said. “Roll up your sleeves and do the hard work of governing.”Regarding Sequestration, which will take effect on March 1st, Governor Jindal said, “We need real presidential leadership here. The President needs to step up to the plate, if he really thinks this is going to devastate the military, really thinks this will devastate air traffic control, really devastate meat inspections…here’s his chance to say ‘Here’s how we can do it better’.”

“The reality is that the Federal Budget this year, even after the cuts, will still be larger than last year’s budget,” Governor Jindal continued noting that the President proposed the Sequester. The Governor also said that the President should delay implementing ObamaCare to save “tens of billions” and avoid the Sequestration altogether.

“The reality is nobody is saying that he should make these exact cuts. We can cut less than 3% of the budget without hollowing out our military, without jeopardizing air traffic, without jeopardizing meat inspections.”

Contrasting Republicans and Democrats, Governor Jindal said, “We are for growth. We’re for growing the American economy; not the Government economy. You’ve seen the greed of Wall Street being replaced with the greed of Washington, D.C. There’s never enough revenues, there’s never enough taxes for this Administration.”“We should be about growing the private sector economy, real jobs out there. Now is the time to start shrinking our spending so we can grow the private sector economy, not the Government economy.”

“Government cannot be the answer to all of our problems.”Discussing ObamaCare and his position that Louisiana should not expand Medicaid roles Jindal said, “This will cost Louisiana taxpayers over $1 Billion dollars over the next 10 years. I actually agree with what the President said in 2009. He said it doesn’t make sense to simply put more people in the Medicaid program without reforming this program. He was right in 2009; they’ve not reformed the program.”

“In Louisiana alone, as many as 180,000 people would be moved from private insurance into Medicaid under this expansion. That doesn’t make sense.”On gun control Jindal said, “I think we all agree we shouldn’t have guns getting into the hands of those with serious mental illnesses…let’s fix the current background system.”

Governor Jindal was also asked about his positioning himself for a national run in 2016.“Nobody in the Republican Party should be thinking about running for President. We’ve got to win the debate before we can win elections.

The Governor also touted his efforts regarding education reform and the potential elimination of the state income tax and revamping of the tax codes as evidence of the difficult issues he has tackled during his second term.Governor Jindal was in Washington for a meeting of the National Governors Association. Jindal is Chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

While I agree that the President should stop holding campaign appearances and photo-ops across the country, it is a bit ingenuous for Governor Jindal, who, according to The Advocate, spent ¼ of his time in the past year, and one week per month this year, away from Baton Rouge on his campaign to raise his national profile, to criticize the President.Of course, it’s also interesting the Governor Jindal would appear on “Meet The Press” in Washington, D.C. when he won’t meet the press in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Acadiana, Shreveport, or any city in Louisiana.

Watch Bernie Pinsonat discuss current poll numbers, the US Senate race, Congressional races, upcoming Louisiana legislative session, Governor John Bel Edwards' popularity, favorables of other elected officials, future political races such as Treasurer, Attorney General and more topics.